This month, we’re shopping our kitchen in order to use up what we have so we can save money and clear kitchen clutter.
Here we go with Day 12 of the Pantry Challenge!
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I have really enjoyed Sundays since we started instituting a regular sabbath. Bryan and I started this last May/June and it’s really been a wonderful part of my week.
Friday and Saturday I did little bits of prep so that meals could be easy and restful. I haven’t quite figured out how to scale my meal prep for the rest of the week to be as fun and easy, but I’m enjoying my Wednesdays.
What We Ate
Breakfast – This Sausage Egg Hash Brown Casserole is my regular Sunday breakfast item, paired with some type of baked good. Last night I made this Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake only I used a very ripe pear and some chocolate chips instead of the blueberries.
Lunch – A couple of days ago I pulled out ½ a large pork loin from the freezer. It was from 2023 ?. I thawed it and then prepped it for Spicy Pork Chili with Pumpkin. Getting it ready for the crockpot was so easy!! Definitely gonna keep this in rotation.
I also had prepped some mixes to make Buttermilk Cornbread. My daughter got home from church before we did, so she baked a batch for us to eat with the chili. I also had veggie dippers left from last night to serve.
Dinner – Sunday Dinner is a highlight of our week. I made a double batch of this recipe still in development. Instead of using fresh potatoes, I used southern style frozen hash browns this time. We’ll see how it goes.
I served that with the second loaf of sourdough bread I baked yesterday as well as a big salad. We had Portuguese Tarts from the freezer, a Costco find that is amazing!
How did Day 12 go for you?
Kathryn M
Breakfast – cereal. SO bought more milk while I was gone so I have a full gallon now.
Lunch – I scrounged in the produce drawer and came up with enough for a nice chopped salad. I had a little blue cheese packet left over from a salad kit that I threw on top. I felt like I needed the veggies after my poor roadtrip diet…..
Snacks – sugar cookies. Potato chips – that open bag of BBQ chips from last week was still here..
Dinner – mini naan bread pizzas. I made extra have it packaged for my work lunch on Sunday. Got rid of an opened package of Naan bread and used some misc veggie bits like green pepper, onion, a few mushrooms.
I had to make a soda run to the store yesterday, but I managed not to come home with anything else! I did visit the food rescue (gave a $5 donation). I got one dented can of corn, some desserts, Hawaiian dinner rolls, 2 blueberry greek yogurts, sliced baby bella mushrooms, and a stirfry mix. One meat was the limit and I got a package of 6 beerbrats that were still frozen and went straight to my freezer. I might see if SO wants them for Saturday. I am gonna try to scrounge up a meat out of the freezer for a stirfry on Friday.
I also grabbed a can of pineapple/aloe drink to try out at the food rescue. It tasted okay but I didn’t care for the fact that it had chunks of aloe pulp in it. Not something I would buy…
Tasty
Thursday January 12th
B- our weekly breakfast out – sausages eggs and hash browns with toast! Yummy and filling.
L – I had an apple, hubby had a scone
S – spaghetti and meatballs with a small salad. This finished off the salad , the last of the meatballs from the freezer and used a jar of h/m pasta sauce from the pantry.
Emily
B- Baked oats, sausages, last couple bites of leftover applesauce and a small yogurt
L- the last leftover cabbage rolls
D- slow cooker pork loin in gravy, mashed potato’s and garlic sautéed zucchini.
Dessert- we tried the Christmas ice cream I bought on clearance last week, it was so good, vanilla and cranberry with white chocolate pieces, definitely worth $1.99.
Stephanie M.
Thursday, January 12, 2023
B – I had a yogurt parfait.
L – Paul had leftover general Tso chicken and rice. I had an egg salad sandwich using up the hard boiled eggs.
D – leftover pork roast, mashed potatoes, gravy and peas.
Heather M
Ooooo that ice cream does sound yummy! what a great deal!
Kimberly
B- cereal or yogurt parfaits
L- sandwiches for hubby and kids with chips and apple slices
I had a pre-planned lunch with friends to try some new dishes at a Korean restaurant across town. Then a friend toured us through the nearby Asian supermarket. Not on the challenge but so much fun. I bought 5 unplanned items but only spent $15 (prices were so good!) and the kids loved trying new things with me after school! Then another $6 for pastries at the Asian bakery next door 🙂
D- made honey Cajun shrimp (freezer) for my hubby who insists on eating dinner before 5p these days; older son had lo chicken rigatoni, Chex mix and Boba tea; I snacked after my big lunch; younger son must be hitting a growth spurt eating lo chicken rigatoni, boba tea, egg sandwich, salad, a pastry
Heather M
Ok that lunch outing sounded so fun!!
Kathy in Denmark
Day 12
B: The usual
L: DH ate at work, packed lunches for the girls, tuna salad sandwich for me
D: LO Pizza and salad
Dessert: Koldskål, which is a Danish dessert made from buttermilk, egg yolks and yoghurt. Flavoured with sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. You eat it topped with a special cookie called “Kammerjunker”. This made me very popular and cleared out a few things from the fridge/cupboards, so a definite win 🙂
lisa s.
B: coffee
L: tikka masala and veggies
D: son wanted the brookie mix we had in the cupboard and same with the pancakes which was somewhere on the monthly plan, so I said if he made the dessert, I’d make the pancakes. So we had pancakes, bacon, and fruit with brookie for dessert.
Kathryn M
Breakfast: the last of a bag of maltomeal cereal. – one more item gone.
Lunch: bacon sandwich and leftover canned pears.
Dinner: leftover soup and the last package of cheddar bay biscuits from the pantry.
I made cranberry orange muffins from a mix. Snacks for today and breakfast for tomorrow too!
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
1/12/22
Hello all. I’ve been reading entries and noting my meals, but got way behind for some days. I’ll just summarize the past but get back on track with today’s meals.
B: coffee DH: oatmeal with blueberries from our bush (freezer)
L: ham sandwich, mandarin, cheese stick DH: LO hamburger from previous dinner and ??
D: Chicken (freezer) Marsala, cauli and rice (freezer), carrots, mandarins
Breakfast offerings for DH have included eggs, sausage, grits, toast, pancakes, French toast. I’ve mainly skipped. Lunches have included HM soups (hambone, Brunswick stew) plus ham, chicken, turkey sandwiches, tuna melts and some dinner leftovers. Dinners have included a requested comfort casserole by DH (put 1 in freezer), ham, chicken (freezer), tilefish (freezer). Have had plenty of fresh and frozen vegetables. We’ve snacked on the last of Christmas goodies which are now all gone.
I’ve got a hint of white space now in the freezer. The refrigerator is pretty empty except for produce. I had cleaned out the refrigerator a while back and had some food waste 🙁 Had to dump some lovely broth as I didn’t use it or get in the freezer (no room!) before it went off as well as butternut squash, peppers and beans. Sigh. Trying to avoid any additional waste.
Heather M
Hi Lynn! I so understand that feeling when tossing food. But, hey, it looks like you’ve been doing well otherwise, and that is great! Lucky you the Christmas goodies are gone. we have tons. They will keep us fixing our chocolate cravings for a while still.
Laurie in TX
B – I had an apple strudel and almonds. Hubs had cereal
L – I had purchased a chicken alfredo at Costco on Monday so I cooked it and we had steamed broccoli and french bread
D – I had my l/o beef quesadilla from Tuesday and guacamole. Hubs made a beef burrito with l/o taco meat.
I froze the remainder of the white chicken chili in souper cubes for a quick meal down the road.
Lily R.
B: harissa rubbed salmon over steamed rice topped with furikake.
L: lentil and sauteed cabbage salad.
D: I had really been feeling like Persian food all week so I made some tahdig, kebabs, salad and sauces. Craving satisfied!
Dessert/snack were dates stuffed with peanut butter.
Chipping away at the pantry and freezer but we still have a long way to go!
Heather M
I just love seeing your menu, Lily. It really is awesome and also helps get my creative juices going. Also, tahdig. YUM!
Lily R.
Hi Heather,
So nice to “see” you again! Yes, we love Persian food around here. Who am I kidding, we love all food lol.
Maureen
I pulled some leftovers from the freezer for lunch. We finished off the muffins from earlier this week, so maybe my youngest will bake something soon. Dinner wasn’t really challenge oriented, but we had everything on hand, so not a total failure. I still need to completely clean out the fridge, but there are so many open condiments and various bits (cheese, dip, frosting, etc) from the holidays that I am dreading it. It hasn’t been a huge problem, since I’m not shopping much, but it needs to be done. I think I’ll see if we can use some of them up in the next couple of days and then clean it out on Sunday.
Heather M
Good luck! It’s always something cleaning out after the holidays. 🙂
JulieT
B: blueberry muffin from the freezer and home canned peaches
L: Rueben soup/ crackers, and cheese – used a package each of celery, green peppers, onions and chopped corn beef from the freezer and home canned sauerkraut to make the soup.
D: Ravioli lasagne and salad – using a small package cheese stuffed ravioli from the freezer and a quart of home canned spaghetti sauce plus grated mozzarella cheese. I also layer the ravioli in frozen with the sauce and cheese. Turns out perfect and yummy!
Heather M
Reuben soup sounds delicious! What a great idea. Also the ravioli lasagna. YUM!
Martha Artyomenko
I found a package of pork spareribs from the butcher in the freezer, so baked those with roasted carrots from a friend’s garden. (They were so huge that one carrot diced filled the whole tray). I also made a green salad with spring mix, cucumber and vinegar dressing.
Kimberly
Days 11 & 12 were much the same
B- cereal or pop tart, so healthy here, lol
L- hubby sandwich; boys at school (hard to break my family from routine, even in a pantry challenge); I had some combination of soup, salad, muffin, banana each day. Finally used the first bag of pumpkin purée from freezer in bakery sized oatmeal pumpkin muffins, SO good!
D- random combo of pizza, wings, salad, lo soup, boiled eggs with salt and pepper (I got an egg cooker for Christmas. I am not big on lots of mini appliances but I love this thing!)
Hoping to prep a few more things today to be sure I don’t waste any of that CSA box I inherited and make plans for frozen garden veggies getting past expiration. I am having to restock all types meats, chicken in the freezer as we ran out! Watching those sale ads!
Kathy from Ohio
January 12,2022
B poached eggs and wheat toast, he met a friend for breakfast
L leftover chicken parmesan and pasta, he skipped
D tacos, everything from today was either from the freezer,pantry, or frig, great pantry day
Sandi
Brunch – I made a huge omelet with one leftover chicken tender (I cooked one extra one previous night specifically for this purpose) and mushrooms and a handful of bacon crumbles. It was fabulous.
L – kid had something at work, I was still full from brunch
S – had a peanut bar since I had skipped lunch
D – we did not get home until 9pm so I wanted something not too heavy. I made a quick stirfry with a package of ramen, frozen veggies, and some canned chicken. Not amazing but fed the tummies.
Jen in Ohio
Well, DS woke up with a sore throat. Rapid covid test was negative, but he’s home until the PCR comes back. I’m really glad he mostly feels fine though.
B: breakfast sandwich and raspberries for DS
L: leftovers. I had barley pilaf, a salad and a slice of cheese. DF had shrimp, chicken and not sure what else. DS had tacos with rice and beans.
D: tilapia with garlic butter and a handful of blistered cherry tomatoes that were too soft for raw eating, potato leek soup, crackers, steamed broccoli, and the last few frozen panko shrimp. Using up lots of bits of things!
Tasty
B – hubby had his usual fruit, yogurt and granola with an oat bar I made at the weekend. I had granola and a muffin.
L – chicken fingerss.
S – potato, leek and mushroom soup from the freezer, followed by Eve’s pudding and custard. A very British dessert that used the apple sauce ( leftover from the roast pork the other night) and a couple of apples that were past their best.
Danielle L Zecher
Breakfast: I had a fried egg over rice. Hubby had McDonald’s.
Lunch: I had shrimp (from the freezer) tacos (we have a lot of flour tortillas that need to be used) and hubby had leftover Garlic Noodles with Beef & Spinach.
Dinner: Black beans & rice.
Stephanie M.
January 12
B – Paul had toast and a yogurt parfait. I had a yogurt parfait.
L – a few days ago I bought a package of cooked chicken from the deli. I added some of it to a salad I made for lunch the other day and to some weight watchers soup I made a few days ago. Today I had just enough to make two chicken and cheese and scallion quesadillas for Paul for lunch so now it’s all gone and it was all used. I also used up the last four small whole wheat tortillas. For me, I had more weight watchers soup. This is a soup I’ve been making for so many years mostly for me and always only in the winter as an addition to a sandwich or by itself. But mostly for lunches rather than dinners.
D – chicken and veggie stir fry over rice.